Never Enough
by Mitsukai
Summary: As Hinata ponders on her less than exceptional accomplishments, she wonders if she will ever be more than a failure to anyone. One-shot, ShikaHina.


**_Never Enough_**

**Disclaimer: **_Naruto_ and all its characters do not belong to me. My possessions only include the computer which I use to type this, my plot ideas, and a bruise on my knee.

**Author's Note: **Yeah, this is the one-shot I had resolved to finish _before _my epilogue for _Of Sneezes and Weasels_. That didn't work out quite as I had planned . . . Anyhow, yes, another crack pairing one-shot, but this is more fluff than anything. I like how the plot progresses, but I don't like the ending too much. Oh, well. Moving along, ShikaHina is not my most favorite pairing, but I can't help think that their personalities would fit each other extremely well. Hinata isn't overbearing, and Shikamaru isn't demanding. Perfect, no? Well . . . maybe not to you, but that's what I think.

Enjoy!

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Throughout her entire life, Hyuuga Hinata constantly felt that she was never enough.

She was never enough to lead the Hyuuga clan.

She was never enough to win a match against either of her teammates, her cousin, her younger sister, or her father.

She was never enough to complete a mission without making even the slightest mistake.

She was never enough for him. Uzumaki Naruto.

He had been the center of her universe throughout her academy school days, and even into those when she was a chuunin. Yet, his eyes always remained on that pink-headed girl, Haruno Sakura.

It's not that she hated her; (Sakura _was _after all one of the young heiress's best friends) it was that Sakura was always _better_.

The apprentice of Godaime Hokage was an accomplished kunoichi, specializing in medical jutsu and chakra induced attacks. She, along with the Sand's poison mistress Chiyo, defeated Akasuna no Sasori, the rogue ninja from Sunagakure who joined the Akatsuki, the very organization Uchiha Itachi, prodigy of the prestigious Uchiha clan, was a part of.

And what had Hinata done?

Failed her first Chuunin exam against her cousin Neji, a branch member.

Barely passed the Chuunin exam by a hair after everyone else had.

Had rid herself of that dreadful stutter, but still remained a rather soft-spoken girl.

Looking over the mental list, she sighed at her accomplishments which were hardly anything to be proud of.

It wasn't enough. It was never enough.

Hinata clenched her fists, her eyes closed and her lip trembling. She was stronger than that. She had become stronger, much stronger.

Repeating those words like a mantra, the heiress calmed down slightly, winning the fight against her persistent tears. Her pale eyes opened once more, her palms relaxed, and she continued her slow trek once more.

And walked straight into something, thus resulting in her falling backwards onto the ground.

"Oh, sorry!" she immediately apologized, looking up only to be met with the sight of a wall in front of her. She blinked and promptly picked herself up, her face flushed with several shades of red with impetuous embarrassment.

"Do you always do that?"

Hinata turned abruptly at the nonchalant voice speaking from behind her.

Oh, great. Nara Shikamaru. Genius of Konohagakure. Rumored to be the best strategist in the Fire Country, if he wasn't already. And also the laziest man anyone could find on this face of the planet, with the possible exception of his father, both of whom thought anything and everything to be 'troublesome'. Just her luck.

"Just this once, Nara-san. I wasn't looking where I was going," she explained in attempt to make herself seem less of a fool in his eyes. Quite a difficult task when one was speaking to another with an IQ of over 200—beyond genius level.

"Whatever." How rude. He didn't even _try _to cover up his eminent indifference.

"Sorry, Nara-san."

Shikamaru had begun to leave, but when he heard her apology, he turned back to face her. "What for?"

"Um . . . for being a nuisance?" she tried.

He snorted, "You say 'sorry' yet you have no idea what you're apologizing for? Jeez, how troublesome."

"I'm sor—"

"Don't say it," the spiky-haired teen interrupted. "Otherwise, this conversation is going to be repeated all over again."

"Okay. S—" She paused at a pointed glance from the strategist.

He sighed, muttering beneath his breath, "Troublesome . . ." Addressing the Hyuuga heiress, he said, "I'm going to the Hokage's office to deliver these scrolls—" he held up the said items, "—so I'll walk with you."

"Okay." Suddenly, she stopped. "How did you know I was going to Hokage-sama's office right now?" Hinata asked.

He replied, although his tone proved his evident reluctance, "As the Hyuuga heiress, you rarely leave your clan's complex to do simple activities like grocery-shopping. You have branch members or maybe even lesser members of the Main House to do such chores. Besides, duties as the heiress limit your own free time, and I know that the majority of your 'off time' is spent with friends or training with your team. But, as a kunoichi, you must answer to Tsunade-sama, thus providing you with a singular reason to leave the Hyuuga household if not for hanging out or practicing, neither of which you're doing right now." Shikamaru drew in a slow intake of breath, giving Hinata some time to respond.

"Wow . . . you're . . . good." For lack of a better word on her part.

He shrugged. "It's simple logic."

The girl's pearly eyes bugged. _Simple_? How could such a thorough explanation and precise deduction be referred to as _simple_? Maybe for him, but the average person would have given up on attempting to figure out what she was doing and would take it for granted.

"Oh . . . Alright, then," Hinata said quietly instead, hoping he already forgot about her fall.

"By the way, you should look up more. It's not good for your clan's reputation if you're walking into walls in public."

Damn.

"I'm s—" She stopped again when Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Don't apologize to me; apologize to your clan. _They're _the ones who'll be embarrassed if you make a mistake, not me."

Hinata sighed. "Okay."

"Before we veer off topic again and waste more of both of our time, let's get going."

"Okay," the dark-haired girl said again, walking beside the taller teenager.

After more than a few moments of silence, Shikamaru spoke again, "You know . . . daydreaming out in the open isn't exactly the best thing idea . . . especially for—"

"For a Hyuuga since they have a reputation to keep up. I know that, thank you very much," she interrupted curtly. Realizing her rudeness, she gasped in horror and placed a small hand over her mouth. "I mean—Kami-sama, I'm sorry!"

He smirked at Hinata's distress. "Jeez, I'm not going to kill you for interrupting. 'Sides, everyone needs to vent once in a while. I'm amazed you've been this tolerant for so long."

The pale-eyed girl bowed her head sheepishly.

Completely oblivious to her actions, Shikamaru continued, "Anyhow, I wasn't going to say for your clan's reputation. I was going to say for yours as a kunoichi. You know, the whole 'constantly alert' thing shinobi have going on . . ."

Hinata's head drooped even lower.

When he finally noted the shorter ninja's plight, he said, "Hey, don't feel bad! I wasn't trying to insult you or anything . . . I was just saying that—Oh, shit, don't cry."

The poor girl couldn't help it and dropped to the ground on her knees. Even in the eyes of the laziest shinobi in the history of shinobi, Hinata wasn't enough to be a decent kunoichi. Every emotion that she had been holding in now came rushing out in a torrent of tears and sobs.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru, being among the most ignorant of men when it came to females, just stood there mutely watching the heiress cry her heart out.

Once her violent weeping had receded into soft sniffles, the shadow manipulator gently eased her small body upright so that most of her weight was being supported by his own body. In that slightly awkward position, he helped her stagger over to a bench where she would be more comfortable.

He stood up, fully prepared to leave her there to mull over her own problems, but stopped when she grasped his vest, preventing his exit.

"Please . . . don't go," Hinata whispered. "Don't leave me alone . . ."

"Fine," he sighed. "I'll stay." With that, he dropped himself down next to her on the bench.

The young Hyuuga was amazed at his patience with her. Had he been like her father or Neji, he would have commented on how she needed to get stronger and cover her emotions, her weaknesses. If it was her former sensei Kurenai, or her teammates Shino and Kiba, they would have tried to comfort her until her crying alleviated. No one just let her pour out all her emotions without hesitation or regret.

When her tears completely subsided, Shikamaru asked, "Done?"

Not 'are you okay?' or 'feeling better?', just a single, simple word that could be taken as somewhat rude. Yet, in that lone word, Hinata saw that he didn't view her tears as weakness, and he didn't view her as a pathetic, fragile girl. It was like he, unlike so many others, knew that she wouldn't break beneath the harshness of his question.

The girl nodded her head in answer. "Yes, I am. Thank you so much . . ."

He waved off her grateful statement. "It was nothing. Just from one ninja to another."

Hinata nodded again, understanding. "Still. Thank you, Nara-san."

"Nara-san?" he questioned the honorific. "Kami-sama, Hinata, we're not strangers—we _have _known each other since the Academy! You don't have to refer to me like I'm an old man or something."

"Sor—"

"No, no! Don't say it!" he interjected.

The heiress smiled softly. "Okay, Shikamaru-san."

He sighed yet again. "I suppose it's better than 'Nara-san'…"

A giggle escaped from Hinata's lips. The pony-tailed boy glared at her before joining her with a wry smirk.

"Well, I better get going to see Tsunade-sama before she starts yelling at me. Tch, what a troublesome woman . . ." Shikamaru said. "Let's get going."

"Right." She hurried to his side, and together, they trudged through the bleary day towards the office of Konoha's Godaime Hokage.

As they entered, a rather large file flew towards Shikamaru's head, which he bent forward to avoid impact.

"You're late!" an irked Tsunade shouted at him. "You were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago!"

Hinata blushed. Had she really detained him _that _long?

"It's my fault," the girl interjected as loudly as her quiet voice could muster. "I borrowed him for a few moments, and I guess I accidentally made him late."

The blond Hokage stopped and openly stared at the Hinata's gentle outburst. The young heiress blushed beneath the elder woman's gaze.

"I'm sor—" she began to apologize but was stopped by Shikamaru's hand grabbing hers.

Looking up curiously at him, she tilted her head in a questioning manner. He just shook his head. "No more apologies, remember?"

At first, she opened her mouth to protest, but when she saw that he was being serious, she said instead, "I won't do it again, Tsunade-sama."

The older woman gave a curious look at the pair, but said, "Good."

"Here." Shikamaru handed the Hokage the scrolls he was to deliver and made to exit the office.

"Hold it," Tsunade stopped him. "You stay here. I need to go over battle plans against Sound with you." She turned to Hinata. "I called for you because Hiashi-san wanted a representative of the Hyuuga clan at each meeting that had to do with the attack on Otogakure, and you're not a stuck-up prick like the rest of your clan."

The dark-haired girl wasn't sure if she should take it as a compliment.

The trio stayed in the office for several hours; Tsunade stating the war strategies, Shikamaru giving his advice and throwing in his own strategies, and Hinata silently taking notes for her clan's future usage. At times, the heiress would nod just to show she was listening.

"Alright, I think that's enough for today," the blond woman concluded. "You kids can go home now."

Shikamaru scowled. The Hokage seemed to forget that they were already old enough to drink. Nevertheless, he was relieved that the discussion was over and rushed out of the office as quickly as possible, dragging the unsuspecting Hinata behind him.

Once they got out, the tall teenager let go of his tight grip on her. "Sorry," he said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"No apologizing, remember?" Hinata returned his words in a playful tone.

The shadow-manipulator blinked at her sudden jest. Then, with a forced frown, he said, "Troublesome."

She just giggled that soft giggle of hers.

"Damn, Tsunade kept us in for a long time," Shikamaru muttered, looking at a nearby clock. It was one in the afternoon. "Want to go get something to eat? My treat," he added as an afterthought.

The kunoichi nodded slowly. How many times had she dreamed of a certain blond shinobi asking her the same question? Yet, here she was, being asked it by _Shikamaru_.

It was then Hinata realized that Naruto could never be 'the one' for her. He had so much potential, so much to live up to, and to be in a relationship with such a promising young man would put incredible pressure on her. No, he deserved the best, but she wasn't the one to deliver it.

"I hope you don't mind Ichiraku," she heard the strategist say, pulling the girl from her thoughts.

"Not at all."

Seating herself next to him, she pondered some more. It was strange—she had fallen so easily in love with Naruto, but she had fallen out of love just as easily. The truth didn't hurt as bad as she would have predicted. It was a sign of her maturity.

Hinata smiled softly.

"What're you smiling at?" Shikamaru asked after they placed their orders.

"Nothing." Her shy smile didn't leave her face.

He shrugged at nothing in particular. "I'm glad you're not Ino. If you were, that smile would mean you'd be plotting something against me."

"Oh, it's not that. I've just been thinking . . ."

"Happy thoughts?"

The dark-haired girl laughed lightly. "I guess they can be called that."

"That's good. It doesn't help much to think troublesome thoughts," he muttered the last part.

Hinata giggled again at his comment.

Shikamaru gave her a strange glance. "You should laugh more often."

She looked at him curiously.

"It's . . . nice," he said.

"Oh . . . Um . . . Thank you," she replied unsurely to his compliment.

Shikamaru smirked, polishing off the rest of his noodles. "Don't worry. It's a good thing."

Slapping some money unceremoniously on the counter of the ramen bar, he stood up, offering his hand to the girl. When she shyly slipped her hand into his after getting over her surprise at the gesture, he gave one of his rare sincere smiles, rather than his usual cynical smirk. As they walked hand-in-hand down the street, Hinata smiled once more.

Shikamaru was never one to ask for much, but if and when he did, she, though neither the prettiest nor brightest, was more than enough.

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**Author's Note:** Although I like NaruHina, too, I think that ShikaHina is a better match, personality-wise. Hope that wasn't OoC! **Thanks for reading!**


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